Protect Yourself
Protect Yourself from Financial Fraud
Protecting yourself and your family from investment fraud is an important part of investing. The Protect Yourself section of the IPT website includes tools and information to help investors recognize and avoid investment fraud and financial exploitation.
Get to Know Your State Securities Regulator
Your State Securities Regulator can help you protect yourself from investment fraud. Securities markets are global but securities are sold locally by professionals who are licensed in every State where they do business. State Securities Regulators work within the State government to protect investors and help maintain the integrity of the securities industry.
Your State Securities Regulator can:
- Verify that a broker-dealer or investment advisor is licensed;
- Provide information about a broker-dealer's prior run-ins with regulators, serious complaints that may have been lodged against them, their educational background and their work history;
- Provide information on where to file a complaint; and
- Provide investor education and protection materials.
Preventing Elder Investment Fraud
Senior citizens have long been the target of unscrupulous investment scam artists. IPT has partnered with medical associations and State Securities Offices to undertake research and develop tools and resources to help you protect yourself and your loved ones from elder financial abuse.
Protect Videos
The Protect Yourself Video Segments are designed to educate viewers about common investment scams such as affinity fraud, technology scams and elder fraud.
Investor Education Booklets and Trifolds
Protect yourself by learning the process of investing with IPT's investor education and protection booklets and trifolds. IPT worked with the Kiplinger Washington Editors to draft seven investor education booklets as part of IPT’s investor education and protection programs in public libraries. Each booklet has a complementary trifold.
The "Getting Help With Your Investments" booklet provides information on checking out your financial advisor before investing, protecting your money and contacting your State Securities Regulator.
The Basics of Saving and Investing
"The Basics of Saving and Investing: Investor Edcation 2020" is an investor education and protection teaching guide that can be used in a variety of learning environments including college courses, workplace education, seminars for adults and seniors, etc.
"The Basics" Unit 4 - Investment Fraud is focused entirely on investor protection and fraud prevention.